Communicable Diseases Surveillance - Additional reports

This report published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 24, No 2, 17 February 2000 contains an analysis and tables of monthly notifiable diseases and laboratory data, and quarterly surveillance reports.

Page last updated: 17 February 2000

A print friendly PDF version is available from this Communicable Diseases Intelligence issue's table of contents.




Sentinel Chicken Surveillance Programme

Sentinel chicken flocks are used to monitor flavivirus activity in Australia. The main viruses of concern are Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) and Kunjin which cause the potentially fatal disease Australian encephalitis in humans. Currently 28 flocks are maintained in the north of Western Australia, seven in the Northern Territory, nine in New South Wales and ten in Victoria. The flocks in Western Australia and the Northern Territory are tested year round but those in New South Wales and Victoria are tested only from November to March, during the main risk season.

Results are coordinated by the Arbovirus Laboratory in Perth and reported bimonthly. For more information see Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:8-9

AK Broom,1 J Azuolus,2 L Hueston,3 JS Mackenzie,4 L Melville,5 DW Smith6 and PI Whelan7

1. Department of Microbiology, The University of Western Australia
2. Veterinary Research Institute, Victoria
3. Virology Department, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales
4. Department of Microbiology, The University of Queensland
5. Berrimah Agricultural Research Centre, Northern Territory
6. PathCentre, Western Australia
7. Department of Health and Community Services, Northern Territory


Sentinel chicken serology was carried out for 25 of the 27 flocks in Western Australia in November and December 1999. There were no seroconversions to flaviviruses during this period. An additional sentinel chicken flock has been set up at Marble Bar in the Pilbara region taking the total number of flocks in Western Australia to 28.

Serum samples from all of the seven Northern Territory sentinel chicken flocks were tested in our laboratory in November and December 1999. There were no new seroconversions to flaviviruses.

The sentinel chicken programs in New South Wales and Victoria commenced in November 1999. There have been no seroconversions to flaviviruses over this period.

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HIV and AIDS Surveillance

National surveillance for HIV disease is coordinated by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR), in collaboration with State and Territory health authorities and the Commonwealth of Australia. Cases of HIV infection are notified to the National HIV Database on the first occasion of diagnosis in Australia, by either the diagnosing laboratory (ACT, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria) or by a combination of laboratory and doctor sources (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia). Cases of AIDS are notified through the State and Territory health authorities to the National AIDS Registry. Diagnoses of both HIV infection and AIDS are notified with the person's date of birth and name code, to minimise duplicate notifications while maintaining confidentiality.

Tabulations of diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS are based on data available three months after the end of the reporting interval indicated, to allow for reporting delay and to incorporate newly available information. More detailed information on diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS is published in the quarterly Australian HIV Surveillance Report, and annually in HIV/AIDS and related diseases in Australia Annual Surveillance Report. The reports are available from the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, 376 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010. Telephone: (02) 9332 4648; Facsimile: (02) 9332 1837; http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecr.

HIV and AIDS diagnoses and deaths following AIDS reported for 1 to 30 September 1999, as reported to 31 December 1999, are included in this issue of CDI (Tables 6 and 7).

Table 6. New diagnoses of HIV infection, new diagnoses of AIDS and deaths following AIDS occurring in the period 1 to 30 September 1999, by sex and State or Territory of diagnosis

  ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Totals for Australia
This period 1999 This period 1998 Year to date 1999 Year to date 1998
HIV diagnoses Female
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
3
6
52
68
Male
1
20
0
12
3
0
5
1
42
55
440
478
Sex not reported
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
4
5
Total1
1
24
0
12
4
0
6
1
48
61
496
551
AIDS diagnoses Female
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
8
13
Male
0
4
0
0
1
0
0
0
5
19
82
219
Total1
0
4
0
0
2
0
0
0
6
19
90
232
AIDS deaths Female
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
7
Male
0
5
0
3
0
0
1
0
9
18
67
113
Total1
0
5
0
3
0
0
1
0
9
19
71
120

1. Persons whose sex was reported as transgender are included in the totals.


Table 7. Cumulative diagnoses of HIV infection, AIDS and deaths following AIDS since the introduction of HIV antibody testing to 30 September 1999, by sex and State or Territory

  State or Territory Australia
ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA
HIV diagnoses Female
25
594
9
142
61
6
211
111
1,159
Male
192
10,705
107
1,942
669
79
3,847
893
18,434
Sex not reported
0
260
0
0
0
0
24
0
284
Total1
217
11,578
116
2,091
730
85
4,095
1,007
19,919
AIDS diagnoses Female
8
175
0
47
25
3
67
26
351
Male
86
4,571
35
803
344
44
1,599
344
7,826
Total1
94
4,758
35
852
369
47
1,673
372
8,200
AIDS deaths Female
3
114
0
31
15
2
47
16
228
Male
65
3,157
24
560
229
28
1,252
245
5,560
Total1
68
3,279
24
593
244
30
1,305
262
5,805

1. Persons whose sex was reported as transgender are included in the totals.



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Childhood immunisation coverage

Tables 8 and 9 provide the latest quarterly report on childhood immunisation coverage from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR).

The data show the percentage of children fully immunised at age 12 months for the cohort born between 1 July and 30 September 1998 and at 24 months of age for the cohort born between 1 July and 30 September 1997, according to the Australian Standard Vaccination Schedule.

A full description of the methodology used can be found in Commun Dis Intell 1998;22:36-37.

Table 8. Percentage of children immunised at 1 year of age, preliminary results by disease and State for the birth cohort 1 July to 30 September 1998; assessment date 31 December 1999.

Vaccine
State or Territory Australia
ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA
Total number of children
1,065
22,272
848
12,347
4,730
1,661
15,770
6,311
65,004
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (%)
90.0
86.5
86.9
90.5
89.0
89.3
89.1
87.3
88.3
Poliomyelitis (%)
90.0
86.6
86.9
90.5
89.0
89.3
89.1
87.3
88.3
Haemophilus influenzae type b (%)
90.2
85.7
88.9
90.6
88.6
88.7
88.6
86.9
87.9
Fully immunised (%)
89.8
84.7
83.8
89.9
88.0
88.2
88.0
85.9
87.0
Change in fully immunised since last quarter (%)
+0.8
+0.5
+0.9
+1.5
-1.0
+1.2
+0.3
-0.3
+0.5


Table 9. Proportion of children immunised at 2 years of age, preliminary results by disease and State for the birth cohort 1 July to 30 September 1997; assessment date 31 December 19991

Vaccine
State or Territory Australia
ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA
Total number of children
1,073
22,876
924
12,688
4,778
1,605
15,840
6,516
66,300
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (%)
87.2
81.4
75.9
84.9
84.6
82.1
83.5
81.2
82.8
Poliomyelitis (%)
87.2
81.4
75.9
84.9
84.6
82.1
83.6
81.2
82.8
Haemophilus influenzae type b (%)
86.8
80.5
81.2
85.3
83.9
80.4
83.2
80.9
82.4
Measles, Mumps, Rubella (%)
91.1
87.2
86.3
90.2
91.0
88.8
90.5
87.5
89.0
Fully immunised (%)2
82.9
71.0
69.6
79.4
77.8
74.0
76.8
73.0
74.9
Change in fully immunised since last quarter (%)
-0.9
-1.2
+2.5
-1.7
+1.0
-3.1
-0.5
-0.4
-1.0

1. The 12 months age data for this cohort was published in Commun Dis Intell 1999;22:36.
2. These data relating to 2 year old children should be considered as preliminary. The proportions shown as 'fully immunised' appear low when compared with the proportions for individual vaccines. This is at least partly due to poor identification of children on immunisation encounter forms.
Acknowledgment: These figures were provided by the Health Insurance Commission (HIC), to specifications provided by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. For further information on these figures or data on the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register please contact the Immunisation Section of the HIC: Telephone 02 6124 6607.




This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 24, No 2, 17 February 2000.

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This issue - Vol 24, No 2, 17 February 2000